Qube Logistics targets Moorebank freight hub

Qube Logistics has confirmed it is bidding to develop a freight hub at Moorebank in southwestern Sydney as it delivered a 16 percent rise in first-half net profit after tax to $43.4 million.

The Moorebank Intermodal Company [MIC], which is chaired by former Sydney Water chief executive and senior NSW public servant Kerry Schott, is expecting expressions of interest this month from potential operators to develop government land at Moorebank into a freight hub.

Qube on Friday said it was participating in the development process, and that it believed “a whole-of-precinct" solution was the most efficient outcome.

Qube had previously formed a consortium with rail operator
Aurizon
, the Sydney Intermodal Terminal Alliance (SIMTA), to develop a freight terminal on its own land at Moorebank but needs access to the government’s land to connect to a freight line.

Qube’s logistics division, which provides transport (including rail) and warehousing services at ports, said underlying earnings in the six months ended December 31 rose 6 percent to $31.1 million from the year-earlier period, driven by both organic growth and acquisitions.

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Qube’s strategic assets division, which includes its property at Moorebank, delivered a 17 per cent rise in underlying earnings to $11.9 million.

Qube said group revenue was expected to to keep growing in the six months ending June 30 as were profit margins in its two operating divisions. It forecast underlying earnings over the next six months would increase compared with the year-earlier period.

Qube will pay a fully franked interim dividend of 2.4¢ per share, compared to 2.3¢ a year earlier.